An allegiance-conflict model of neuroticism is presented that describes a set of factors operating to produce a divided identificatory allegiance between two alternative and incompatible imitation models, namely a mother and father in hostile conflict. The adjustment of 180 male and 180 female college freshmen from high and low conflict families is examined as a function of four determinants of identification--parental warmth, power, competence, and gender similarity. One sibling and both parents completed several questionnaires by mail, providing ratings on the parents and on the subject. Questionnaires completed by the subject and by the subject's college roommate or friend provided measures of neuroticism, psychoticism, antisocial attitudes, depression, masculine and feminine gender-role orientation, deliquency, and cigarette, alcohol, and other drug use. Initial analyses indicate that, as predicted, neuroticism is highest among students from high conflict families whose opposite-gender parent is more attractive as an object of identification. It is also predicted that high anxiety and sex role conflict will be most prevalent among students from high-conflict families whose rearing experiences are predictive of identificatory allegiance with the opposite-sex parent. Students who have, in addition, experienced inconsistent love from the object of identificatory allegiance are expected to be especially prone to episodes of depression. Social non-conformity is expected to be highest among students from families in which both parents are low in identificatory attractiveness, irrespective of the level of marital conflict. The realiability and validity of several measures of marital conflict and parental child-rearing behaviors will be assessed. The set of family variables will be subjected to cluster analysis in an attempt to discover family types. The resulting clusters of families, each homogeneous in dynamics and maternal and paternal child-rearing behaviors, will be compared for differences in student psychopathology.